Chat Log

Drabbleboy: Hey u on?

A03_Mistress: Wat?

Drabbleboy: I got a problem

A03_Mistress: This is new info? ;)

Drabbleboy: Seriously

A03_Mistress: OK, shoot.

Drabbleboy: I can't do sweet and cute any more

A03_Mistress: I've seen you wrestling, you never were cute, dude

Drabbleboy: I mean with the stories, thank you!

A03_Mistress: Jk, jk

But I've noticed the trend, yes.

Drabbleboy: Right, so what do I do?

A03_Mistress: Keep going?

Drabbleboy: :|

A03_Mistress: I'm serious

Look, things are bad right now

I get you feel like you want to be escapism

But forcing it out won't help anyone, k?

Drabbleboy: Thatswhatshesaid.gif

*A03_Mistress has disconnected*

The Paradox

"U.C.F Station Paradox Commander's Log, date 12th December, 2046.

It's been a year now since the last non-automated contact with ground control or anyone else. The food delivery drones still come, but as Doctor Dronik continuously points out, the supply depot had enough for fifty years, and that was all automated.

The crew is wanting to launch the escape pods, as they now just want answers before their presumed death, rather than the certain death up here, eventually.

I'm giving them permission. But I'm staying behind, just in case.

I guess I'm still scared to die. Yet I'm up here."

Wasted Energy

My new assistant was startled by the noise coming from a small device in the corner, that had wires coming out of it and going all over the lab.

"What the..."

"Oh, yes. Right, so, every so often, someone in the future develops time travel. And then, soon enough, someone uses it to try and stop World War 2 or a Great Famine or something.

This invariably creates a paradox, and that future is destroyed, along with all its inhabitants."

"My word, shouldn't we stop it?"

"What? And give up my near limitless energy source? All that free temporal energy?"

An Elusive Bushranger

It wasn't a great pub, but given it was the only one within a hundred miles, everyone went there.

I was ten beers in, and thus the only one willing to talk to the blow-in when he approached me.

"Was wonderin' if you'd get round to me!"

"Yes, well, Alfred Jones, The Bulletin. I'm just here to write a story about the bushranger Black Jack."

"Well I ain't him."

"I wasn't accusing you. I'm trying to work out why the authorities are having such a hard time catching him."

"Because everyone here hates coppers as much as me.

And him." 

Chain Of Command

We needed the Virus to make sure the Enhanced Troops didn't turn on us.

We needed the Enhanced Troops to make sure we could still fight through Gravity Bombardment.

We needed Gravity Bombardment to make sure we could prevent Grey Goo from spreading.

We needed Grey Goo to make sure we could take out Conventional Troops while keeping infrastructure intact.

We needed Conventional Troops to make sure we were Feared and Respected.

We needed to be Feared and Respected to make sure we weren't attacked by our enemies.

We needed to attack our enemies because they might need to first.

Farmer's Retirement Plan

It's called a farmer's retirement plan. On a paddock that isn't that useful for grazing or crops, they plant pine trees, or something else that grows really big over many years. They do that early, and then just around when they're ready to stop farming, they sell the now fully trees for a tidy profit to help pay for said retirement.

And like any retirement plan, there's always grifters and con artists sniffing around.

Problem is, right now, "sell me your trees for money now" and "don't cut them down for carbon storage" are a little hard to tell apart.

Special Adviser

After the test, I got permission to meet with him again, given I was the only person able to get through to him. In a way, we were this close to interdimensional travel because of me.

But really, we were only this close because of him.

I entered his padded cell as he ate yogurt slowly from a soft plastic tube.

"Hello again Paul."

He grunted as he squeezed harder on the tube. I slowly pulled my tablet computer from my jacket pocket and I began to flick through the data. His eyes, glassy as they were, were locked on the moving numbers as I ran through them quickly, knowing he could keep up.

"We finally got a clear night, and ran the test as you said, and it seemed to work. But-"

"Modulation needs to be concurrent to cosmic flare harmony, offset by 4.867 microseconds. And energy output needs to be more consistent, you only have a 2.575 quark window."

I jotted it down, thanked him, and left him to his soft arts.

I thought I was the only kind person, a d that's why he trusted me.

Turned out I was just the one gullible enough for him.

Timed

Thirteen years and a hundred and twenty-nine days after she walked out on me, she knocked on my door.

When I opened it, we spent seventeen seconds looking at each other silently.

After she asked if she could come in, it took me twelve seconds to answer in the affirmative.

The kettle took two and a quarter minutes to boil.

The conversation, including awkward silences, went on for an hour twenty.

The first kiss was two seconds. Then five, then a solid minute.

It took me fifteen minutes into the ensuring activity to remember why I was glad she left.

Against The Gods

He lost his family, and the Gods did nothing, despite how much he sacrificed and begged for their intervention. So he set off to do something about that, to make the Gods care, or at least make it that they couldn't interfere due to their no longer existing.

It took most of his life as he walked all across the world gathering the foretold tools, the magical items, and the like-minded associates he'd need to take on the Gods in their home and enact what he wished.

But finally, he was ready, and made his way to the Island where the Gods lived, among but apart from those that they ruled over.

He had planned on stealth up to a point, but when it kept working, he kept going, until he found the Library, and in it the book that showed the infinte number of times the Gods had made changes to the world and humans had forgotten. All the changes, major and minor, that they'd enacted and then reset the minds of him, and all the other humans

His family had died a billion times before, and what's worse, for seemingly no reason.

This made him even more angry.

D Guard

We walked through the entrance to my secret lair and my son laughed at the guard stationed outside the door. Once we were in the antechamber and waiting for disengaging locks, I took the chance to educate.

"My son, I noticed you noticed that the guard outside isn't one of my crack troops."

"He looked stupid!"

"He does, and he is! But you see, even idiots have their uses. The guards controlling this room watch him carefully, and when he invariably gets taken out or bypassed by a hero, they know what they're up against."

"Oh, clever!"

"I am, yes."

Intent

As I pulled the sword out of the dragon's skull, and wiped blood and brain off it, I saw the young woman, standing nearby. I assumed she was one of the maidens the foul beast had captured, but before I could tell her thanks weren't necessary, she asked an odd question.

"Why did you kill this creature?"

I blinked a few times before I climbed down the corpse.

"I'd say it was to claim the reward, but to be honest, because it killed my father."

"Greed and Revenge. Not good enough."

She vanished, and the beast rose once more, healed...

A Chance

As the prisoner was being led to the gallows, he found himself stopped in front of a small table. He didn't recognise the man behind it until he turned to thank the guard, at which point he realised he'd seen that side of the face on coins for the last few years.

"Now then, I like to give a chance at freedom, so please, pick a number between 1 and 1000."

"Uh... 6742."

The King rolled for dice.

"6..7...4...2!"

The prisoner smiled.

"It's best 2 out of 3 though.

Actually an illusion of a chance, I suppose."

The King smiled.

Parasite Adam

The remnants of humanity were not prepared for the Parasites to be defeated by an alien ship arriving and somehow making all the infected bodies go dormant, but they were happy enough.

Until the aliens made contact and asked what had happened.

At first, the humans assumed that the Parasite's arrival was from an enemy of these nice aliens, until the scientists got talking.

Turns out the aliens dropped off the Parasite, which was designed to take over a few of the population and become the most native-like natives, so they could learn about us.

Both sides were somewhat horrified. 

Sir Determined

I watched him as he walked towards the gate.

Anyone else in that armor would have had an unnatural, forced gait, but of course with how much training he had, he walked just fine, unremarkably so.

But then again, considering what he was walking to, it was remarkable. There was no hesitation, no pausing, no taking a moment before meeting his almost certain death.

Maybe that was it, he was clinging to that last bit of hope that maybe he might survive-

As he opened the gate, I saw how he'd padded himself with black powder bags, and I understood.

Prey

I had just gotten comfortable in my hiding spot, rifle trained on the food pile in the clearing, when I heard it.

It was a growl, not one I recognised, and it sounded like it was to my right.

I weighed up the probably of alerting my prey vs my need to know, and after a second, I slowly turned my head to the right.

Nothing was there, or at least nothing I could see.

I slowly began to turn my head back to the front when I felt my rifle being pressed into the ground.

The fight was short.

Dead Last

By the time the virus had finished, there were eighteen of us left on the planet, at least that we knew of. Trying to reach each other through the sea of bots and glitching paywalls online to talk was a whole thing, and it ended up just confirming we were all far away from each other and not easily found.

But the few in North America began the quest to meet in New York, while the rest all decided on Istabul. I, as the sole Australian, wished them luck.

And apparently those numbers were enough to mutate the virus again.

Paper Work

The stack of paperwork was plonked down in front of me.

"Of course, we can handle that if you just give us permission."

The single page was placed beside it carefully. I looked it over briefly then cracked my knuckles.

"Nah, I'm good. I'll call you when I'm done."

I began the first page, as they spluttered a muttered threat of no takebacks before they walked out.

Which they probably shouldn't have done, since it gave me a chance to flick forward and realise it was 5 copies of the same form, and there was a photocopier in the room...

Module 24-24-24

Of all the training modules in my space training, in was the only one I didn't understand. If they'd framed it as "don't do this as it will kill you", I'd have understood, but the idea I'd want a peaceful end if there was no hope of rescue, I didn't agree with that, I'd fight all the while.

But now, sitting in a cramped base camp on Mars, knowing no-one else was now coming, all alone with not enough resources to survive long term, I can understand why they wanted to give me the option.

But I'm not taking it.

The Little Things

At times like these, the important thing is to take the small joys where you can find them. You need to do what you can to help and support and all that, but you also need the little things. The little bits of joy that are just for you, to make sure you don't get bogged down and broken down.

For example, I'm having a couple chocolate biscuits a day of my favorite type, just to keep me sane. They come all the way from, let me check the wrapper here...

The child worker capital of the world.

Well, nevertheless...

False Negative

I ran the data through the analysis program five times before I shot him a text and asked him to come to my lab.

He arrived, claiming he didn't have much time, until I told him what the data seemed to be saying. He asked how many times I'd checked it, then watched as I checked it a sixth time.

We called in a couple more colleagues and we all manually checked the raw data, and none of us could spot a problem with it.

So, naturally, we junked it and started fresh, getting data that was clearly more accurate.

The Last Vampire

The Last Vampire, desperate to avoid the fate of all his fellow Vampires, went to fall into a deep sleep for 200 years. Before he did so, he told his slaves to spend that time making sure humans couldn't fight him.

Thus, they spent that time changing what people thought could hurt Vampires. Writing stories, 'correcting' records, making it so everyone thought harmless stuff like garlic and sunlight would hurt Vampires.

When the Last Vampire awoke, he was briefly distressed to discover that since everyone believed these things harmed him, they did so.

Briefly, because he emerged into full sunlight. 

Faith

The child was found on the steps of the convent, in the dead of night. The Sisterhood took the child in, and intended on caring for the child until they found a more suitable home.

But as the weeks passed, every letter was returned with an apology that there was no room for another.

Weeks turned to months, and they stopped sending letters.

17 years and 360 days after that night, a battalion of the King's guard arrived, looking for a long lost heir.

But when they found out the child was female, they decided they'd clearly made a mistake.

Sober Reflections

Fuck.

Fuck fuck fuck.

Fuck, right, and fuck on top of that, and an extra fuck to top it off.

FUCK.

Just... Fuck, what the fuck? How the fuck did that Fuck fucking fuck up so badly yet here we fucking are?

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!

And I'm one of the fucking lucky fuckers, relatively, as I'm fucking well down the fucking list unless I fuck enough fucking shit up to force myself up the fucking list.

Fuck.

And I know, fucking "survive and resist", fuck yeah, don't get me fucking wrong, but right now? 

Fuck. Until further notice.

Bright Spark

Getting struck by lightning was the most painful moment of my life, so far.

At least, I assume that was what happened. I was heading towards the tree that idiot had gotten under, trying to warn them, and then suddenly I was looking up at the sky, smelling burnt flesh and feeling every inch of my body complaining.

After a moment, I heard their voice.

"OK, just stay there, lightning doesn't strike the same place twice!"

I sat up to tell them that was a myth.

Getting hit by lightning for a second time took the crown from the first.

Lyon, The Master Thief

I woke up to find myself handcuffed to a table, interrogation style, the man across from me wearing sunglasses and a suit only further confirming the situation.

"Ah, good, you're finally awake. Now, I assume you understand why you're here?"

I blinked a few times.

"I don't know who you are, where I am, what's going on, or anything else pertaining to your question!"

"Oh please, just because we captured you easily, Lyon, doesn't mean you can play that card!"

"It's not a card, i don't know this Lyon-"

"How did you know it was with a Y then?"

"What?"

Alexandria's Quest

The Time Traveler, once he was sure he hadn't been spotted, stepped out from around a pillar and approached a man hurriedly sorting certain scrolls into a wooden box.

"Greetings worker! Are the Romans coming?"

The man looked at the Traveller, who was worried his AI translation wasn't working, until the man sighed.

"English, Putonghua, Esperanto, or Spanhinese?"

"Uh, English, but how-"

"Ah, right. So you're here to try and stop the Great Library here from burning?"

"Of course, I-"

The man shot him, finished collecting the scrolls about time travellers in his box and then started a big fire.

Tomoka's Song

I stood on the rooftop, looking down at the concrete below, and prepared to step off.

And then I heard the tune.

It was simple, maybe 20 notes. And it wasn't being performed well.

But it was her tune. The tune she played for me the first night I was in her apartment, the night I truly fell in love with her, and she fell in love with me.

That was enough to pull me back from the brink, as I headed down to find who was playing it.

Turned out to be some Easter egg tune from video games? 

Universe XXX000XXX

After another hour spent trying to convince them I was from another universe, I almost gave up, before trying one last attack.

"OK, you keep telling me the multiverse theory is impossible, why do you think that?"

The supposed scientist chuckled and leaned forward.

"Simple. The theory holds that every possibility, every potential reality exists, yes?"

"I mean, the eggheads back home wouldn't put it like that, but yeah, sure."

"So, if that's true, then there must be a universe that creates a force that would destroy all of us. And since that hasn't-"

"WHY DO YOU THINK I'M HERE?!?"